W. P. Ballinger. To the Citizens of the Counties of Galveston,
Harris, Liberty and Chambers....

Description

W. P. Ballinger.To the Citizens of the Counties of
Galveston, Harris, Liberty and Chambers. One page
broadside, 7.5" x 11.75", printed on blue paper, Galveston, October
29, 1861, regarding a law passed under an Act of the Confederate
Congress on August 20, 1861, whereby "All the lands, tenements
and hereditaments, goods and chattels, rights and credits, within
the Confederate States, and every right and interest therein, held,
owned, possessed or enjoyed, by or for any alien enemy, since 21st
May, 1861...are thereby sequestrated by the C.S., and shall be held
for the full indemnity of the citizens or residents of, or other
person aiding the Confederate States in the present war, against
losses by the seizure, condemnation or confiscation of their
property, under any act of the United States, or any State thereof,
authorizing the same."

The law describes "alien enemies" as "All persons...who
have a domicil in any of the United States, whether citizens or
not. Thus, 'the subjects of Great Britain, France and other neutral
nations who have a domicil, or are carrying on business or traffic,
within the States at war with this Confederate States, or aid or
abet the United States in the existing war.'"

W. P. Ballinger was appointed Receiver by "the Judge of the
Confederate Court of this District" to carry out the execution
of the law. All citizens were required to report "all such
property, rights, credits, &c."Grand Juries of the Confederate
Courts were obliged to "report all property, &c., held by or
for alien enemies." In addition, those persons "indebted to
alien enemies become the debtors of the Confederate States, and are
required to render a written statement of all such
indebtedness."

Mildly toned along the folds with one half inch tear at the top
edge. Light staining at the bottom left corner. Else fine. From
the papers of B.A. Shepherd.

More Information:

Benjamin Armistead Shepherd was born in Virginia on May 14, 1814. Due to the poor conditions of the land and a dwindling family fortune, he left Virginia in the 1830s and arrived in Galveston, Texas. He married Mary Dobson in 1841 and settled in the growing town of Houston. A personal friend of General Sam Houston (whom he had met at age 19), Shepherd established himself as a prominent landowner and one of the foremost citizens of Houston, involving himself in many entrepreneurial adventures before founding and serving as president of the First National Bank of Houston in 1866. In 1875, he arrived in the newly formed San Jacinto County where he organized the town of Shepherd along the proposed Houston, East, and West Texas Railway. He died in Houston in 1891.

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We had a wonderful time in New York during the October 2013 Historical Manuscripts auction that featured my mother’s papers collected during her tenure as Martin Luther King, Jr.’s secretary. In fact, the entire experience from beginning to end has been a pleasure.
Howard Ballou,Brandon, MS